The Substitute
by Kami-no-Namida
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass, two nobles tied together by an arranged marriage. They both came into the union knowing the other's deepest secrets, but it is only afterwards that it becomes apparent how tricky dealing with those might be. Then there's Harry, Astoria's servant and friend. He might just be the solution both nobles are searching for. Mpreg, more warnings inside
1. Prologue

Hi there (^^)/,

A birthday fic from myself to all of you ( _and myself, he he_ ) number five! I decided on returning to **Drarry** and chose a fairytale-ish/ medieval-ish Alternate Universe for it. I guess I'll see as the story progresses where it shall lean more.

Those of you waiting for updates I'M SO SORRY! I SWEAR that I shall not abandon any of my other stories. I just had trouble getting into the swing of them during school year. Hopefully once I'm back from my vacation it will get better. ( _I was hoping I would have one chapter out before leaving, but the chosen story does not cooperate, *sigh*)_

Either way, thank you everyone for reading this! I love each and every one of you!

 **Warning:** Slash, Mpreg, Infertility, (consensual) Infidelity, Muteness, ... hmm should be it for now. I might add more as story progresses. Also,  rating will go up eventually.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does... I am only an owner of my HP books and some merchandise. (._.)

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* * *

 **... The Substitute ...**

In a kingdom far far away, in a time long since forgotten, there once was a nobleman of the name Draco Malfoy.

Named after the constellation of Dragon, Draco had always aimed to be much like the proud beasts. As such, ever since he could speak at least, he always strived to come out a winner.

The one who was the fastest.

The one who was strongest.

The one with the most knowledge.

The one with the most power.

It surprised no one that when his childhood turned into adolescence, those goals made Draco's competitive nature even more pronounced.

Some people said he was cruel, _ruthless_ in achieving his ambitions.

Some people saw it more as the reckless nature of youth, which the truth was closer to.

Neither of those were the _complete_ truths though.

The truth was that more than anything, Draco's behaviour stemmed from his infinite quest for his father's approval.

You see, dear reader, Draco was the only heir to the dukedom of Mal Foi.

If you ever had the opportunity to see the map of the Hogwartian continent, you know that Mal Foi were wast lands with strategic position. They also took up a better part of what was summarily called the lands of Slytherin.

Such were the lands Draco's father ruled over.

And those were the lands, which - among other things - made Draco's father a hardened man. That is to say one very hard to please.

It was not that Duke Lucius Malfoy was anyhow displeased with his son, not by a long stretch.

He was in fact proud of his son's prowess in anything he set his eyes on.

He _loved_ his son.

It was just that the man had hard time expressing any and all emotions towards anyone other than his wife.

There was nothing his son was displeasing him by.

Well.

Almost nothing.

There was _one_ thing about Draco which was driving Lucius up the proverbial walls.

Draco was refusing to marry.

The Duke and Duchess Malfoy had tried to set their son up in a more subtle ways ever since Draco reached his eighteenth year... Organising balls. Sending him off on diplomacy trainings to other lands and rulers.

It soon became obvious that _that_ was not something Draco would abide by, much to the chagrin of his parents.

His nineteenth year passed by with the young heir still unmarried.

Twentieth.

Twenty-first.

Twenty-second.

Twenty-third.

It was on Draco's twenty-fourth birthday that his mother put her foot down.

Maybe they would have been willing to wait a bit longer, there _were_ nobles who married later on in their life after all. Not to mention it was a _male_ noble's marriage which was in question. However what with Draco being an only child and the pressure of enemies on the borders increasing, there was no other choice but step in.

Nobility has ways which not many of the common folk would agree with.

One such way is parents arranging marriage for their children.

And that is what happened in the end.

...

"You're kidding."

"Draco..."

"Worse. You're _not_ kidding."

"It's for the best, Draco."

"The best? Best for whom?"

"It'll all turn out okay, my little Dragon."

"Mum!"

"Shush. You'll see."

...

Needless to say that the Malfoy heir was not happy to hear that a spouse had been chosen and would be brought to meet him soon.

What Draco was less unhappy about was the chosen spouse herself.

One lady Astoria Greengrass.

She was a renowned beauty of the Green Grass lands and - more importantly for Draco - someone the heir had met several times already.

Little mercies and all that.

Draco was happy that the someone he was supposed to spend a major portion of his life with was someone he could stand at least. And who knew, maybe even someone he could come to love. Eventually.

There had been worse choices to make.

The marriage between Draco and Astoria was to cement a treaty between the Mal Foi and Green Grass lands. The Malfoys would - among other things - offer and supply defence, in case of an armed conflict. The Green Grass would supply provisions to Mal Foi during winter months, when their partly closed off position in the mountains was more of a burden rather than advantage. Both rulers agreed that any children of Draco and Astoria would rule over both joined lands after the end of their time, be that through death or abdication, solving a problem of both succession lines.

Late Lady Greengrass had passed of illness several months past and only gave the Lord two daughters. And while Duchess Malfoy was still hale and healthy, she had nearly died during Draco's birth and was unable to have any more children.

The marriage seemed to be an easy solution to so many problems.

It was means for harmony between lands, which was needed as the feared Lord Voldemort kept spreading his influence through the Hogwartian continent. It was more than clear that if not stopped, he had every intention to spread even further than the Gryffindor lands he had completely overtaken some fifteen years past. His empire would only spread further and further from Hangletony which his claws had extended from in the first place.

Unity was so _desperately_ needed.

However there was something about the arranged marriage and its participants which not many knew of.

A secret in the nobleman's past.

A secret carrying from the noblewoman's past to her present.

It was her secret that could endanger not only her life, were it to come to light, but also the life of her subjects.

And so she decided to speak with her intended frankly.

...

"I'm happy you asked to speak to me. You see, there is something that you should know..."

"So I'm not the only one?"

"The only one what?"

"Only one with a secret."

"You're not, Astoria. _That_ you definitely _are not_."

...

Astoria demanded a chaperoned audience, her chosen chaperone being her loyal servant, one who for all his abilities had one shortcoming. (Or what was generally perceived as a fault at least.) He was a mute. And that was why he could never speak of the secrets spoken about in his presence.

And even if he wasn't, thanks to the wonders of magic, there was not much to be heard outside the immediate circle of the soon-to-be-engaged pair anyway.

No secret could get past magical circle surrounding the two.

And what a secret Draco Malfoy discovered that day.

Astoria Greengrass, the lady of beauty surpassing even that of her older sister Daphne, was barren.

It had been a curse placed upon her in her childhood. A curse of an enraged witch who was jealous of Astoria's beauty and decided that she should never be able to spread that beauty through her children.

It was a shock to Draco, but what could be done about it?

The two of them spoke for a long time and in the end they came to a decision.

They would carry through with their marriage, as if neither knew of her inability to carry a child.

When the time came people started getting suspicious of the absence of a child they would think of a solution.

Neither would know until later just how close that solution was standing to them at the time.

* * *

 **Tadah!**

 **That is the end of me, setting grounds for later. Opinions? Constructive criticism welcomed! (^^)**

 **See ya~ ( "-.-)/**


	2. And it grew both day and night

_To avoid confusion: "Speech", 'Thoughts', ""Sign Language"",..._

.

* * *

 **... The Substitute ...**

 _"Mummy and daddy are sad to have you go. You know that baby, don't you?"_

 _"Lily we don't have ti- **He's here**!"_

...

Harry woke up gasping, the images and sounds from his dream growing dimmer and dimmer with each raspy breath taken.

It spoke of Harry's experience with such a problem that he did not need to think much of what had happened. In fact he did not need to think about it _at all_.

He knew that mixture of feelings well.

Harry did not even need to ask himself whether he had been dreaming again, or what it was he had been dreaming about, for that matter. Because it did not matter how many times morning such as that one happened, the answers remained unchanged.

He must have been dreaming, yes. But what about? _That_ he could no longer remember. _That_ he could _never_ remember.

Yes, it wasn't by far the first morning Harry had started off with mere imprints of feelings from a dream unremembered.

Fear.

Worry.

 _Sadness._

Oh, the overwhelming sadness.

Whose sadness was it he was feeling? His? Maybe. And maybe not. The only thing Harry knew was that that dream was something which returned often.

It was so different from the dreams other people told him about. Ones which brought music and colours. Ones which brought feelings and images of happiness, joy, or at least cheer.

No, the dream which kept returning in increasing frequency as Harry grew older was _not_ that kind of a dream. The teen knew as much despite never remembering its content. He did not even know whether it was just something his mind came up with or a memory which was trying to come to the surface. Was the dream always the same? Did it change from one time to another?

Were he to be asked, Harry wasn't even sure if he'd ever find out.

And yet...

With all his heart...

Harry hoped that one day it would all make sense.

Until such a time came, he came to accept that some days he was going to start on a sadder note than the others.

Carrying that cross around was something he became apt at as years went by, even though it never become _easy_ to do so.

Neither did living with that unidentifiable emptiness it brought.

...

"Harry!"

""Yes, Miss Astoria?"" the adressed teen mouthed with a smile. He knew that greeting as basic as that could do without the use of the sign language. It also served to keep young lady of Green Grass on her toes.

"I keep telling you to drop the "Miss" over and over! Every day at least! How can you be so cheeky even though you can't speak?"

It spoke for the length of their acquaintance that Harry waved off the direct addressing of his condition. Even if the eyes of the lady in question projected the warm sympathy over his condition it would have been harder to take from just about anyone else.

He did not want or need pity.

He had learned to live with his inability as well as he could. It was not as if it was Astoria's fault that he could not speak. In fact it was thanks to the lady of Green Grass, soon-to-be of Mal Foi, that Harry came to have as good a life as someone of his condition could hope for. There was no need to project the occasional time of bitterness onto his saviour.

Harry tried to internalize his ever-present dismay instead.

He did so despite being aware how bad he was at it. He did so knowing well enough how much harder to bear it made some days compared to others. Especially days such as that one was forming to be from its very start.

But that was just the way he was.

There were much worse ways he could be living. Some of those worse ways he had even _lived_.

He never _ever_ wanted to return to _those_.

""Once again, _Miss_ Astoria,"" Harry moved his hands purposefully, the signs forming the more courteous pattern of address. ""What is it, that you need of me?""

"Harry... Whatever... What I _need of you_ is for you to come and help me prepare for tonight's engagement party. I think we're both aware that your sense of fashion is horrendous, but at least whatever you choose shall be a source of amusement to me _and_ be a sure combination that should _not_ be chosen." the young lady teased.

""I am not denying that my sense of fashion is not on par with yours, _Miss_ Astoria. But I stillthink you would look great in something I have chosen.""

"Yeah, right. Maybe... No need to worry your pretty head over what _I_ will be wearing tonight, though. What your worry for today is, is what _you_ will be wearing."

""I'm supposed to be there as well?"" Harry asked, surprised, as the two of them started to walk towards the set of rooms the young noblewoman occupied for the time being. It went without saying that it was only a temporary solution, as once the short time between the engagement and the wedding passed, Astoria was going to move into the West wing. The part of the castle where her soon-to-be husband's rooms were.

"But of course, dear Harry. It's something you cannot afford to miss. Don't tell me you've planned to be doing anything else!"

""Let me see... A quiet evening with a book? Or a noble party no one really wants me on...? Tough choice.""

"You know it's not like that, Harry."

""And _you_ know it _is_. Even the heir of the Mal Foi kept looking at me funny yesterday when you went to tell him about your... _problem_. He saw right through you dressing me up nicely. As a matter of a fact, it is quite obvious I am not of even a minor merchant family. Just imagine how many weird looks I would be getting in a room full of people of his and yours station.""

"You thought he was looking at you funny?" Astoria asked, turning to her servant with a laugh, thinking of the conversation she had with said noble. Then however her laughter froze, seeing the somber look on the younger teen's face.

'Is it one of those days...?' she asked herself, even as she continued to speak.

As far as the young noblewoman was concerned, there was nothing sadder than those sporadic days when her young servant doubted himself for a reason unknown.

He was the one person who could bring her out of any of her blues, always trying to make her smile... But there were days where that cheery mask cracked. What she simply called the 'sad days'. The days when _he_ was in need of someone who would be able to do that for _him_.

Astoria did not have that ability.

And what with how their conversation was going, she knew he was too far deep for her to be able to reverse everything she had said.

Even the smallest of things could be the trigger, however it was too late to back track. Were she to change her mannerism all of sudden, the crash which was sure to follow would only be so much worse.

She could only continue in the vein she had started.

"You _really_ thought that he looked at you and what he thought was you're somehow inadequate? That you've been found _lacking_?"

Harry did ot even need to start speaking for Astoria to know that it indeed _was_ one of those days.

""I'm a servant bought from slave trade. I'm a mute. I'm not particularly good-looking. I'm not even truly useful. The only reason I've been chosen as your companion is because I caught your fancy when you were a little girl. Because you wanted someone to play with. It certainly was not because of any ability of mine... Astoria. You can't get any more lacking _or_ inadequate than that.""

"Oh, Harry." the young woman sighed, saddened to hear the list of Harry's perceived faults.

'He's too far gone already.'

There was no way she'd be able to cheer Harry up, given how she already knocked him down. Even inadverently.

She only wanted to tease him a little.

Harry _would have_ reacted to it as just teasing any other day.

The two of them had long since formed a friendship which Astoria felt to be deeper than even the one she had with her older sister. She honestly cared for the teen who was much like a younger brother she never had.

Everything was such a mess.

The need for public appearances.

The fact that she was of much higher status than him.

The backlash Harry could get from not respecting her as was "her due". One of the reasons Harry insisted on calling her by at least some title, she knew.

Astoria could not even bring herself to feel any joy from getting her companion to call her by only her first name for once. Such an empty victory...

She knew what was going to come before Harry raised his hands to sign.

""Please go alone. You can choose anything well enough without my help. If you think I absolutely _must_ be at the party, choose something for me as well, but I'd really rather you did not. Have a nice day, Miss Astoria.""

With those words Harry bowed - something he rarely ever did, as Astoria cured him of the need in her surroundings for most part - and started the slow walk over to the outer parts of the castle.

It was always hard for him to stay in her presence - the living proof of his insignificance - on days like that one.

On those days he needed to _do_ something.

And at least once he reached his destination - the outer parts being busy what wihthe preparations for the evening - he could feel useful. It was implied that he should be helping there when not with Astoria anyway.

"If only you knew, Harry..." Astoria whispered after his retreating form, thinking back to her conversation with Draco once more.

There would be time when she could tell Harry the contents of their talk. But as of that moment they had promised each other silence.

"If only you knew..."

...

The engagement party was a grand affair. One worthy of two of the most influential families of the lands of Slytherin. That was for certain. But even with how lavish the event was, nothing could be done about the underlying tension which came along with its participants.

Majority of those present knew how big the need for the upcoming marriage was. Majority also knew what the expectations of the marriage were.

United front. Stronger army. Continuation of both lines... The want for an heir especially being on forefront of many people's mind, what with the war likely approaching.

Not that any of the nobles, all well-educated in "proper behaviour", brought up the threat of war on a gathering such as that one.

There were hints of course. One noble saying how _strong_ such a union was going to be, another how much the union cold bring to both lands... Normal wishes for a highborn couple, it could be said. Yet in the given context everyone present knew just what was being said.

It was those unsaid words, which worried Astoria the most.

She knew that the repercussions could be heavy, were their deceit ever come to light. Her role in it especially.

She knew that the ones who were speaking the most quiet now, were those who are going to get immediately suspicious when no child appeared soon.

They were the ones who could cause problems, she knew.

She felt so helpless.

...

"Don't worry about them, Astoria."

"But..."

"We will deal with that bridge once we come to it. That's what we agreed on, or did we not?"

"Yes... Yes, we did."

"Now. Who is my lovely, official fiancée searching for in the crowd?"

"The same person _my_ official fiancé is, I would imagine."

"Ah... So. He isn't coming?"

"I had hoped he would, but today was... Not a good day."

"You will have to tell me about that sometime later."

"I will, eventually. Now is not the right time though."

"I can be patient."

"To learn about this, you will need to be."

"Not a problem for me. In the meanwhile though, how about we dance?"

...

He could not bring himself to come after all.

Astoria had even picked an outfit for him and had it sent over, but Harry honestly could not imagine putting it on. Everything about the clothes - from fabric to buttons - screamed money.

Not something he wanted people's eyes on.

At least the note kept his conscience from too deep a guilt.

A note from Astoria, which assured him that were he not to come, she would be sad, but understanding of it.

He almost expected her to be angry.

Thinking back to their conversation, Harry was almost _sure_ Astoria was going to be at least a bit miffed. Then again, the noble he tentativel called a friend was something else entirely.

Someone who did not much care about his station.

Someone who actually _cared_.

Yet the moment his mood swung low, he lashed out at that wonderful soul.

However good she was at guessing the ups and downs of his moods it was his fault entirely that at times she caught him in the worst of them. After that not much was needed to be done or said to set him off.

The bad days.

Harry knew Astoria called them as such.

It could not be more apt a description.

Bad... that was what they truly were.

At least in the past it was rare for the dreams to come on consecutive days. At times they came within weeks, even _months_ of each other. But recently the interval had been getting shorter and shorter.

And Harry just _knew_ that he was going to be dreaming again. If only he knew what he was going to be dreaming of...

...

 _"Lily, take Harry and **go**!"_

'Whose voice is that?'

 _"Mummy loves you, Harry. Daddy loves you. You are so so loved."_

'Mum?'

 _"Mummy and daddy are sad to have you go. We just need to know you are somewhere safe... You know that, baby, don't you?"_

'Do I...?'

 _"Lily we don't have ti- **He's here**!"_

'...Dad?'

 _"Be safe, Harry. Be strong... And **don't**. Ever. Tell."_

...

Maybe then he would know just why that dream tore him apart so much.

* * *

 **Sooo... this took way longer than I thought it would. Sorry for that. (._.')** **The problems of having the plot planned, but not actually written out, ladies (and gentlemen?)**

 **As has been established in this chapter, please do note that in this AU Harry is younger than Draco AND Astoria by several years.** ( _D: 24, A: 18-20, H: 17-18_ )

 **Constructive criticism welcomed!**

 **See ya~ ("-.-)/**


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